@LucianCook profile picture
Lucian Cook @LucianCook

Savills director of residential research. Analyst and commentator on the UK markets. Devotee of cider, cheese and Somerset cricket.

Joined May 2012
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Lucian Cook@LucianCook
8 Apr 2025
In celebration of 30 years of ONS local level house price data...
Callum Mason@CallumCMason
8 Apr 2025
Really enjoyed working on this piece with @LucianCook & @Savills - a look at house prices at a local level and how they've changed over the past three decades, with some areas seeing 800% growth inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/…
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Yesterday's quarterly stamp duty statistics paint an interesting picture with revenues boosted by the increase in the additional homes surcharge at a time when the amount of tax relief claimed by first time buyers hits a record high
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Yes, this could change quickly (as the past 24 hours bear witness) but here are our initial views what the tariff-related events of the past week could mean for the housing market... savills.co.uk/blog/article/3…

Tariff turbulence: Our first thoughts on what this means for the UK housing market

The phrase that “a week is a long time in politics” is widely attributed to the former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson. 

savills.co.uk
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Our analysis of @TwentyCi data suggests the housing market has struggled to maintain the early year momentum. Net agreed sales broadly back to normal in March, higher than normal new instructions & asking price adjustments relatively high. Price sensitivity set to continue.
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Earlier this week the ONS told us housing affordability had improved on the basis of movements in the house price to earnings ratios. For me, this measure is more a wax crayon than a precision tool in assessing affordability.
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It certainly has a place in looking at relative affordability across different parts of the country & it does help understand deposit affordability. But you need to look at mortgage payments as a % of income in tandem if you want to get a real picture of how things have changed.
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(And remember it's based on individual earnings rather than household income).
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OBR suggesting the delivery of 1.3m new homes over the next five years on the basis of 305k per annum at the end of the forecast period. But that assumes annual housing transactions get back up to 1.48m pa: a long way above the post GFC norm of 1.2m.....
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And the 1.3m appears to be a UK figure; the 1.5m target is for England alone. Planning reform alone is not enough
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Watch this very closely. It would open up capacity for more housing market activity but also price growth. Getting the balance right is tricky, so I would expect some “interesting discussions” between the regulators & the politicians.
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Lucian Cook retweeted
Cricket on TNT Sports
@cricketontnt
3 Nov 2024
The moment New Zealand beat India 3-0 - the first time they have been whitewashed at home since 1999 😮 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK

This media is unavailable

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Lucian Cook retweeted
Sachin Tendulkar
@sachin_rt
3 Nov 2024
Losing 3-0 at home is a tough pill to swallow, and it calls for introspection. Was it lack of preparation, was it poor shot selection, or was it lack of match practice? @ShubmanGill showed resilience in the first innings, and @RishabhPant17 was brilliant in both innings— his footwork made a challenging surface look like a different one altogether. He was simply superb. Full credit to New Zealand for their consistent performance throughout the series. Winning 3-0 in India is as good a result as it can get. #INDvNZ
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Initial thoughts on what the budget means for the housing market.... savills.co.uk/blog/article/3…

What the Autumn Budget means for residential property

Despite many of the measures in today’s budget having been heavily trailed before Rachel Reeves gave her speech, there were still a few ‘rabbit out of a hat’ moments and important points of clarifi...

savills.co.uk
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Buy to let Landlords temporarily relieved by no increase in CGT are going to be less enamoured by a 5% SDLT surcharge. More difficult to see where new rental supply will come from - especially coming on the back of the abolition of the AST.
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Non-doms to be abolished from April 2025 but the devil will be in the detail which will determine whether the targeted tax take is realistic
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In a previous life I was a land agent who specialised in tax valuations, Given the changes in relief on Agricultural and Business Property Relief those services will be in high demand.....
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Quite surprised to see the additional IHT threshold for homes retained - thought that might be at risk. Bang goes the idea of more downsizing as a result....
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As expected no change to CGT on BTL and second homes with other assets bearing the brunt of the increase.
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Employers NIC to raise £25bn per annum. Still another £15bn needed to get to the £40bn.....
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Lucian Cook retweeted
David Byers@davidbyers26
21 Oct 2024
First-time buyers in London are to be hit by an additional £6,250 stamp duty bill on average from next spring thanks to Rachel Reeves’s decision not to extend a discount introduced by the previous government, a Times analysis by @LucianCook shows. thetimes.com/article/acfdd8b…

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